Touch is our most potent form of wordless communication. The tenderness of your touch conveys your love for your baby as much as the sound of your voice. While you touch your baby all day long, for feeding and diapering or to feel the softness of her skin, infant massage gives you an opportunity to touch your baby in ways that add both stimulation and relaxation to your caress. Although there is really no wrong way to massage your infant (provided you are gentle and alert to her cues), experts offer guidelines that can help make massage more pleasurable for both of you.
Preparations
Choose a time of day when your baby is alert and unlikely to be hungry. Find a comfortable spot on the floor, a bed or a couch in a room warm enough for your baby to lie unclothed. Put on some soothing music, and plan to spend from 10 to 30 uninterrupted minutes with your baby. Because some of the oil may get into the baby's mouth, avocado, safflower and almond oils are preferable. Test a drop of oil on your baby's skin a day before your first massage.
To begin
Sit cross legged or with your legs out in front of you. Place your baby on her back on a blanket, mat or folded towel in front of you or between your legs. Rub a small amount of oil between your hands to warm it and your hands. Reapply oil as needed.
Massage techniques
Use long, slow, steady strokes, always keeping at least one hand on your baby. Start with gentle pressure, gradually increasing the pressure as your baby responds and as he gets older. Use the thumb, first two fingers, or your palm, depending on what is comfortable for you and your baby. Be sure to talk to your baby about what you are doing.
Torso
Begin with hands flat on baby's chest, move them up toward the chin, then spread them to the sides of the rib cage. With one hand, stroke baby's abdomen in a U-shape, moving down one side, across the bottom of the stomach, and up the other side.
Head and face
With your fingertips, lightly rub the scalp in circles, avoiding the soft spot, or fontanel,at the top of the head. (You don't need oil for a scalp massage.) With your fingers and then with your thumb, move up baby's nose, across the forehead and down the cheeks.
Arms
Wrap both hands, one above the other, on baby's arm and move your hand with gentle squeezing from the shoulder's to the wrist, Rub the palms with your thumbs and stroke each finger.
Legs
Repeat the motion used for arms moving from the hips to the ankles. Massage the feet like the hands.
Back
Turn baby onto his stomach and stroke downward on either side of the spine from the shoulders to the base of the spine, over the buttocks and down each leg.
You can learn more techniques in: Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents by Vimala Schneiger MacClure (Bantam Books, 2000).
Last Updated: September 24, 2009